December 14, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 14.12.2021, 19:55

COVID-19.
Authorities in Bucharest on Tuesday announced 946 new Covid infections, a
number significantly higher than in the previous day, as well as 106 new related
fatalities. The 14-day infection rate in Bucharest stood at 0.85 cases per one thousand
inhabitants, having peaked on October 22nd, with 16.54 cases per one thousand
inhabitants. According to Romania’s national committee coordinating the vaccine
rollout, the vaccination level is 25% among the country’s rural population and
40% among its urban population, with 42% in bigger cities.

Life expectancy. Life
expectancy has dropped significantly in Romania amid the COVID-19 pandemic, being
significantly below the EU average. According to a report published by the
European Commission, life expectancy in Romania is almost 6 years lower than in
the EU and women live on average 8 years longer than men, the biggest
difference in the bloc. The report also notes that almost half of the deaths
registered in Romania are related to some risk factors, with Romania recording higher
alcohol and unhealthy food consumption than other EU states. Also, its
teenagers are overweight, even obese, and smoke more than other European youths,
while the number of adult smokers is slightly lower than the European
average.

Travel. Bucharest’s Henri Coanda airport has
doubled the number of customs officers for arrivals to Romania, to reduce
waiting time as the number of passengers is growing. Road customs checkpoints
are also busy on entering the country. Many of the arrivals are unvaccinated Romanian
nationals unaware of the new restrictions in place. From 10th
December, non-EU travellers who wish to enter Romania must present a negative
Covid test taken in the previous 48 hours, but if they are not fully vaccinated
or have not had the virus they will be asked to isolate for ten days. If they
are unvaccinated and also fail to produce a negative Covid test result, they
will be ordered to isolate for 14 days. Rules haven’t changed for EU
passengers, who can enter the country based on the green certificate attesting
vaccination, recovery from the infection or a negative PCR test result from the
previous 72 hours.

Summit. President Klaus Iohannis is attending the Eastern Partnership
Summit and a meeting of the European Council hosted by Brussels on Wednesday
and Thursday. On Monday, he attended a videoconference with the head of the European
Council Charles Michel and the prime ministers of Slovenia, Estonia and Latvia in
preparation for the two events. High on the agenda were European coordination
in the context of the Covid pandemic, crisis management and resilience, the energy
prices, the EU security and defence, the external aspects of migration and
foreign relations, with emphasis on the situation on the borders with Ukraine
and Belarus.

Expo Dubai. A delegation of the Romanian government’s
Department for Sustainable Development on Tuesday symbolically opened the gates
of Expo Dubai 2020. The Romanian pavilion presents the contributions of Grigora
Antipa, Constantin Brâncuşi and Nicolae
Georgescu-Roegen to what we call today sustainable development. A century ago, the
three visionary Romanians, inspired by Romanian traditional culture, proposed
concepts that can help build a sustainable world. A conference entitled Sustainable Romania. Local Knowledge from the Past for a
Global Lasting Future was also held on Tuesday. (CM)